Sydney Sage
'Sydney Katherine Sage '''is an Alchemist, charged with keeping the vampire world a secret from humans who first appears in Blood Promise. She is the narrator of the spin-off series Bloodlines. Biography Sydney is an 18 year-old Alchemist and thinks all vampires are evil creatures of the dark, even Dhampirs and Moroi. She was taught this since the day she was born and believes it strongly. However, after being sent on a mission to protect Jill Dragomir, she warms up to some Dhampirs and Moroi, including Rose, Eddie, Jill, Dimitri and Adrian. Sydney is very religious as well. Sydney is the middle child of three. She has an older sister, Carly, and a younger sister, Zoe Sage. During ''Bloodlines, it is revealed she has a strained relationship with her rigid father, Jared Sage, and younger sister, Zoe, mainly because of her apparent 'betrayal' of the Alchemists in Last Sacrifice. Sydney also staged a fake Strigoi attack after her sister, Carly, came into her room in tears; telling her that she was raped by Keith Darnell. It is hinted that she, not a Strigoi, took out his eye. After helping Rose escape from jail in Last Sacrifice, thanks to something she owes Abe (who she asked to stage the Strigoi attack on Keith Darnell), she is on rocky ground with the Alchemists, but they decide to give her a mission rather than give it to her sister Zoe Sage. Sydney is then sent out to Palm Springs to protect and watch Jill Dragomir, Queen Vasilisa's half sister. There, Sydney discovers that Keith Darnell was the person negotiating with vampires and using vampire blood and Alchemist materials to create magical tattoos that can enhance or give people special abilities, like physical strength for football. When Sydney is bitten by a Strigoi, her blood is spit back out and the Strigoi says that it is disgusting. When Sonya Karp sends in Sydney's blood for testing later, it is shown that there is magic in her blood, though Sydney waves it off as coming from her Alchemist Tattoo. Physical Appereance Sydney has platinum layered blonde hair and brown eyes. According to Adrian Ivashkov, her eyes are molten gold when she stands in the light. Adrian also commented that Sydney is quite skinny and "easy on the eyes". She has a gold lily tattoo on her lower cheek which is only granted to Alchemists.The tattoo is a combination of the element gold and Moroi blood which has been charmed with water, earth and some compulsion to stop Alchemists from talking about what they do to outsiders. Sydney usually wears very formal neutral color clothes, and, like the other Alchemists, very rarely wears bright colours. Personality Sydney is intelligent and responsible. She completes her assignments the detached Alchemist way, but at times she lets her personal feelings into the mix, such as when she takes independent action to try to get Rose Hathaway to safety or gets Adrian Ivashkov into Carlton College, or takes Jill Mastrano on dates. Sydney is also quite uptight and conservative. She loves to be organized and always dresses tidily. Rose commented that she is "always looking ready for a business meeting." Sydney is socially awkward. Growing up in the Alchemist world and being home schooled, she was deprived of any social interactions with "normal" adolescents and does not know much in the way of socializing and romance. She does not see right away if a boy is flirting with her or asking her out, and passes obvious signs of romance off as casual things, or finds logical fo conclusions to romantic actions inflicted upon her. However, she is very polite and reserved. Sydney enjoys wearing neutral colors and despises disorder and/or mess. Sydney deals with things the same way she might deal with her room: She keeps everything neat, clean, and in its place. When something strange or peculiar happens, it is uncomfortable for her, and whenever she is scared she ticks off random facts about things (such as Latin, car engines, or plate boundaries) in her head. Logic and facts, solid things like that, calm her down. She is very selfless and responsable. At the beginning of Bloodlines, Sydney is very shy and strongly believes all vampires (Moroi and Strigoi and Damphirs alike) are evil. She absolutely hates watching or witnessing vampires using elemental magic or compulsion, believing that it is wrong and unnatural. The magic mostly unnerves her because it is not logical or scientifically possible, and Sydney is very logical. She is very religious as well, wearing a golden cross around her neck everywhere. As she spends more time in Palm springs with the Moroi and Damphirs (Jill, Adrian, Eddie, etc.) she becomes more comfortable around vampires, and even starts to ask more questions. She mostly likes to follow orders and keep everything organized, but from time to time she is known to take actions on her own mind and standing up to what she believes in. Also, as her character interacts more with vampires in Bloodlines, Sydney even begins to like and think of them as friends. She becomes much spunkier by the end of the book, even noting that she is now very comfortable at shaking hands with Moroi and Dhampirs, when at the beginning it was a difficult task. In The Golden Lily, Sydney is much more her own person. She is still logical and orderly, dressing the same way and believing strongly in her duty, as well as being responsable and socially inept. However, after witnessing a few vampire hunters attacking her and Sonya Karp downtown one day, she begins to wonder about her Alchemists believes, noting that humans can be just as cruel and dangerous, if not more, than Moroi. As she spends more time with the Moroi and Damphirs, Sydney becomes more and more convinced that they are a lot more moral than many humans and even Alchemists. Sydney experiments more with magic and, despite her strong believes that it is wrong and unnatural, even ends up doing quite a few spells to help rescue Sonya Karp when she disappears and is kidnapped by hunters. Sydney also goes out of her way to make sure everyone is happy and safe, especially Adrian Ivashkov. In the book, Sydney wears the color red for the first time at a Halloween dance, the very first colored clothing she has ever worn. She begins to take self defense class and, at one point, even begins to question whether she wants to leave the Alchemists or not, whether they are such a great choice. She, knowing the Alchemists would not approve, gives her blood to Sonya Karp so Sonya, Adrian, Dimitri and Eddie can experiment more about Spirit. She does this despite her fear of vampires having any sort of contact with her blood, and is always supportive of the Moroi and Dhampirs ideas. She becomes comfortable with hugs, even, throwing her arms around Adrian once in self defense. In this book, it is easy to see how much Sydney has grown. She is on the verge of treason of the Alchemist, by her own standards. When Adrian asks whether she'd choose to go into a tunnel full of crazy, armed humans (meaning the vampire hunters) or a room full of safe Moroi like him and Jill, Sydney replies she would choose the vampires. This is a milestone as it is basically admitting that the Alchemists are wrong, not everything vampire is evil and unholy. Despite her stone set believes, you can see Sydney battling with the years of Alchemist training and the things she is seeing with her own eyes, that Moroi can be better than humans. Sydney notes that Ketih Darnell's father does not mind that Sydney calls Keith a corrupt and immoral person, but rather is glad that Sydney denied Keith being attached to vampires. However, Sydney has a long way to go before being able to let go of her beliefs. It is also noted that Sydney Sage has eating issues, noticed by most everyone but addressed directly only by Adrian Ivashkov. This is a result of Sydney suffering through her father, Jared Sage, yelling at her that, "If those monsters Moroi can do it, why can't you?" referring to her body and weight. This is very unfair, seeing as how Moroi are biologically born with the perfect, slim, model like bodies, and no matter how hard Sydney tries or how much weight she looses, she will ever be able to be like them. It is stated by Adrian that you can see Sydney's ribs, and she eats less than expected and has an obsession with caffeine. Sydney loves architecture and cars, telling Adrian that if she had not been born an Alchemist, she would be studying Architecture in college and school. Sydney is very smart and can speak many languages, including Greek, Latin, French, and Russian. Intelligence Sydney is to be very intelligent. She can speak five languages and she has many tricks and techniques in getting rid of Strigoi bodies, such as a special potion that can turn a dead Strigoi corpse into dust so it is unrecognizable. She has lots of contacts due to the fact that Alchemists must do "damage control" to keep the Vampire world hidden. Sydney knows a lot about cars and architechure, and she has outstanding grades and quite a vocabulary. She is very educated in history, culture, mathematics, and almost every subject known to man. However, her intelligence is sometimes intimidating, and Sydney often "dumbs down" things when speaking to people about them, because she gets the feeling they don't really care. She confesses this to Adrian in The Golden Lily. Sydney can also play volleyball fairly well. She showed quick thinking when two Strigoi, Jacqueline and Dawn, drank from Adrain Ivashkov by using her fire amulet to incinerate them in Bloodlines. However, she doesn't get all of Adrian's artistic skills and often thinks she is simply not artistic or abstract enough to understand his art. Sydney does not like magic, but is forced to learn it by her history teacher, who tricked her into an independent study for an elective. Despite everything, Sydney is said to have a natural talent (or "knack" for magic. Most of her intelligence comes from the rigorous home-schooling with her father, Jared. It is revealed that while some children were learning their alphabet, her father was already teaching her the basics of chemistry. Description Sydney is shown to be a complete contrast to other characters as she is so tightly restrained and in control of her self. She had been taught all her life to fear vampires, and combined with Jared's stern teachings and lack of childhood, Sydney is dry and very serious. Throughout out the series Sydney gradually loosens up and starts thinking that there may be a grey area with vampires, that maybe the relationship between Alchemists and vampires didn't have to be so black and white; either being 'with' the vampires who 'against' them. Strigoi hate her blood. Apperances Blood Promise Sydney first appeared in Blood Promise ''when she is forced to follow Rose and clean up the trail of Strigoi bodies she is leaving behind. Sydney is highly religious and at first is very critical of Rose and her "kind". She classes Moroi and Dhampir as being almost as bad as Strigoi and tries her best to keep her distance. However as time passes the girls become closer and Sydney becomes a comfort to Rose, who is missing Lissa. Sydney also helps Rose find Dimitri Belikov's old town, as Rose is out looking for Dimitri, and even manages to get help when they are attacked by Strigoi. This happens in Russia, and it becomes very obvious there (when Abe Mazur appears to help them) that Sydney and Abe have some type of unpleasant history. Spirit Bound Sydney talks with Rose via webcam, saying that files on Eric Dragomir were stolen from the Alchemists' records. Sydney says the files are purely financial. Last Sacrifice Sydney appears when she aids in Rose's escape from the Moroi prison because she ows Abe a favor. Dimitri, Rose, and Sydney continue traveling until reaching West Virginia. Rose convinces Dimitri and Sydney to look for Lissa’s half-sibling. For safety, Sydney takes them to a hotel, then to the Keepers, a strange group of Moroi, dhampirs, and humans that believe in keeping the old ways, hence the name "Keepers". When they found out that there was a relative who knew the child of Eric Dragomir (Sonya Karp, Strigoi during that point) they headed to a place of Strigoi that Dimitri knew. Rose and Dimitri made it seem like Sydney was a human servant for "Strigoi" so they could ambush them to get the information they needed. Sydney succeeded in luring the Strigoi out, and after the battle, Rose called Sydney brave even though Sydney didn't agree. The three travel to Sonya Karp's house, and Victor Dashkiv and his brother, Robert Doru arrive. After Sonya was changed back from a Strigoi, Sydney went for groceries and messed with Victor Dashkov's car. Later, at Jill Mastrano's house (who turned out to be the illigitament child), when the Guardians came, Rose and Dimitri fled, leaving Sydney to be taken by the Guardians to be questioned. Then, when Rose comes to find out information about the murder of Tatiana Ivashkov, she has Sydney flirt with an Alchemist to get him to speak. Afterwords, Adrian points out the consequences of Rose's win with the possiblity that Sydney might be in deep trouble with the Alchemists. Bloodlines In Bloodlines Sydney is chosen instead of her sister Zoe to pose as Jill's sister (and roommate) at their private school in Palm Springs. She is the protagonist in this series, and shares very strained relationships with her father, Jared Sage, and sister, Zoe. Sydney goes to Palm Springs in place of her sister, her intentions clear on protecting her sister from Keith, her father's '''golden boy' ''who raped her older sister, Carly Sage. She begins to develop feelings towards Adrian Ivashkov throughout the book, despite the Alchemist teachings that were drilled into her head. She, Eddie, and Jill all attend a posh private school named Amberwood Prep, where she meets Trey Juarez, a intelligent (though he tries hard to hide it) football playing human whom Sydney befriends right away. She helps stop the bullying that Jill receives by replacing Laurel's shampoo with something else she made, therefore calling a truce between the two parties . After finding Adrian in a miserable state, she helps him find financial aid for art classes at Carlton College, once again blurring the line between necessary Alchemist business and unnecessary personal actions. Sydney and Adrian team up to find out the supplier of the illegal ingredients for the tattoo parlor Nevermore, and her findings redeem her image within the Alchemist society. It is also revealed that she has "foul" blood and has some kind of magic in her. Adrian becomes infatuated with her eyes and tells her that she is beautiful. Sydney becomes confused and is saved by the door opening. Sonya Karp and Dimitri Belikov enter. They bring with them Angeline, one of the Keepers who will help keep an eye on Jill. The Golden Lily Sydney is at an underground reabilitation centre to testity whether Keith Darnell has served enough time for his criminal acts in Bloodlines. Sydney speaks the truth, stating that ''He...well, to be blunt, is just a bad person and the Alchemists shorten Keith's sentence, as, apparently, being a jerk is not as offensive as tolerating vampires as acquaintances. Back in Palm Springs, Dimitri Belikov , Sonya Karp, Eddie Castile , and Jill Mastrano (and of course, Adrian Ivashkov) are studying spirit and why Strigoi turned back to their original forms by Spirit can not turn to Strigoi again. Tension is in the air between Dimitri and Adrian, but thankfully, there are enough distractions to keep a brawl from occurring. Back in Amberwood Prep, Trey Juarez, Sydney Sage's human friend, is trying to sell Sydney on going out with his co-worker, Brayden, who may just be as smart as Sydney. There are no results with the visual or spirit magic tests worked on Dimitri and Eddie, and they decide to send in blood tests. They ask Sydney for a blood sample (Sonya and Dimitri) as well, but with she declines, Alchemist fears coming back. Tnat same day, Adrian asks her to drive him to San Diego to have a talk with his father. When in San Diego, Sydney witnesses Adrian's father blaming Adrian for his mother being in jail and tearing apart Adrian's accomplishments, life, and personality. Knowing Adrian is miserable and drinking, she gets Sonya and Dimitri to talk to Lissa, and Lissa then tells Adrian's dad how amazing and wonderful Adrian is, and impressing Adrian's father to the point that he praises his son and gives him money which Adrian buys a car with. Sydney goes out with Brayden, who is her intellectual match, and the two spend a nice time discussing Shakespeare and Academics. They plan for another date, and at the same time, Jill has started in a relationship with a human boy named Micah. One night, while getting dinner, Sonya Karp and Sydney are all attacked by humans who still believe that Sonya Karp is Strigoi, and are trying to kill her. They are saved by Dimitri Belikov, but find a sword left behind. The sword has many old alchemist symbols imprinted on it, but they are no longer used in modern day alchemy. Sydney decides to look up self defence spells and signs up for a self defence class with Adrian, which she thoroughly enjoys, though Adrian seems to have a hard time with it (later this is revealed to be because of Adrian's romantic feelings for her, it is hard for him to deal with all the close physical contact, meaning everything to him, and 'nothing' to her). Later it is found out that the humans who attacked Sonya and Sydney are indeed vampire hunters, or, 'Warriors of the Light'. Sydney agrees to give Sonya a sample of her blood, and the results say that Moroi found bits of all four elements in her blood, though why that is, is still unknown. The vampire hunters then kidnap Sonya, causing Sydney to leave her date with Brayden early. She reluctantly uses a magic spell to find Sonya, and finds out that Trey Juarez is, indeed, a vampire hunter. She makes a plan to save Sonya by talking the hunters out of it, when this fails, the guardians (as well as Angeline) invade the hunters' compound and escape with Sonya, whilst Adrian found and got out with Sydney after she was forced to leave in a seperate direction than Eddie and Sonya. This causes the hunters to exile Trey and his family, but this causes no strain on Trey and Sydney's friendship. The romance between Sydney and Brayden (if you could call it that) is put to an abrupt end after Brayden calls her irresponsible and says the relationship will not work. Then Sydney drives over to Adrian's and explains what happens. This ends with Adrian confronting Sydney about her anorexic like eating habits, and how she doesn't have to starve herself and such. When Sydney corners him about lying about not being able to drive manual transmission when he could, Adrian confesses he lied about it to spend more time with Sydney, and that he quit self defence because the touching was too much. They share a passionate kiss, but the moment is broken when Sydney realizes that it will never work, and her Alchemist beliefs come flooding back. Though she admits her heart is breaking, she walks away from Adrian with one last look. Sage, Sydney Sage, Sydney Sage, Sydney